So I like most people in the world saw Star Wars this weekend. I was caught up in the hype, but was also consistently reminding myself of what happened last time I got hyped up about a new Star Wars trilogy. I must say it did not disappoint.

It's pretty much a homage to Episode 4 in terms of the basic story. Abrams seems to have captured that perfectly. It seems as though he paid attention to what makes Star Wars great, as well as everything people hated about the prequels. Having said that it does ad a quality of fourth wall breaking self awareness, but I can put up with that. It's certainly more tolerable than the ham fisted pointless fan service in the prequels like having the kids train with the same device that Han Solo happened to have knocking around in the Millennium Falcon in Episode 4.

The new characters are great, the acting is great. The old characters are great too, and do not overstep their supporting roles leaving the new folks to take centre stage. The villain Kylo Ren is great and is set up to have a character arc and motivation, which is something lacking from the prequels---which killed off the only promising bad guy in the first movie. I felt the pacing was a bit fast, but there was a lot of ground to cover, hopefully it will allow for a bit of a slow down in the next one.

It's definitely not a perfect movie, but it's a good Star Wars film. I really enjoyed it, and can now get over the trauma caused by the prequels...

I was on board with the whole movie until Rei beat a trained user of a lightsaber by "concentrating" on her awakened powers.

Overall, I thought it was awesome. I actually did a Star Wars marathon event in the movie theater starting at Episode 1 and going all the way through. I won't ever do that again, but it was awesome seeing Episode IV in theater for the first time!

"But this is irrelevant because in either case, whether a god exists or not, whether your God (with a capital G) exists or not, it doesn't matter. We both are, in either case, evolved apes. " - Nesslig20

I was on board with the whole movie until Rei beat a trained user of a lightsaber by "concentrating" on her awakened powers.

Overall, I thought it was awesome. I actually did a Star Wars marathon event in the movie theater starting at Episode 1 and going all the way through. I won't ever do that again, but it was awesome seeing Episode IV in theater for the first time!

I thought that was ok actually. We saw she was pretty good at fighting with her staff and also very force sensitive so it's not beyond question that she could beat and injured guy.

Also I think it's great that they appear to be returning to the mystical energy idea of the force rather than the bullshit Lucas came up with in the prequels. Yes it seems silly that the ground literally tears asunder between the two of them, but not if we accept that it wasn't time for them to face each other due to some force shit. This would also explain her sudden surge of power, she can't be defeated yet and nor can he. It's not time. I like that this movie gives the finger to the prequels by restoring the force to a mystical power.

I saw it last night with some friends, and honestly, I actually left right after the part where the two people stole a battered old space ship from some desert planet. Not much was really memorable. This is probably partly due to the fact I've never seen the originals. I mean, I've tried, but I could never get more than an hour in at best to any of them. I really, really am not a fan of the Star Wars series. Something about them just bores me to tears. And seeing all the hype on my Facebook makes me feel like a bit of an outcast.

I ended up just walking in to the next showing of In the Heart of the Sea the same day, and loved it. So it wasn't a complete waste of $15.

itsdemtitans wrote:Seems like everyone liked the film, from what I'm seeing.

I saw it last night with some friends, and honestly, I actually left right after the part where the two people stole a battered old space ship from some desert planet. Not much was really memorable. This is probably partly due to the fact I've never seen the originals. I mean, I've tried, but I could never get more than an hour in at best to any of them. I really, really am not a fan of the Star Wars series. Something about them just bores me to tears. And seeing all the hype on my Facebook makes me feel like a bit of an outcast.

I ended up just walking in to the next showing of In the Heart of the Sea the same day, and loved it. So it wasn't a complete waste of $15.

The thing with Star Wars for me was that it totally captivated me as a kid. I loved it, and it was the source of a lot of cherished memories, not just of watching them, but running around in the woods with sticks recreating the battle of Endor or pretending to be on Hoth every time it snowed etc.

I can fully see that if I watched the original trilogy now without that nostalgia it wouldn't seem so great. It would just be a hammy 80s sci fi series. So I can totally see why some people just don't get why it's so popular.

It's also the reason why the prequels are so hated. Not just because they are bad films but also because for many people they ruined the universe that they inhabited in their childhood imagination.

In my opinion Star Wars is totally about that nostalgia and that is why the new movie is great, because it paid attention to what the fans who grew up on it wanted (having been made by those people). But for that reason it probably will fall short for people who have never really been that bothered about Star Wars.

I loved just about everything about this movie. I will get the three bad things out of the way first in increasing order. 1) I did not like that Finn was able to use a lightsaber so well against someone that was trained with that weapon for his whole life. However, talking to my wife, she said she thought Kylo Ren was only messing around with Finn (something I did not think the scene showed). 2) I thought the scene when you see Kylo Ren capture Rey should have been the scene that first reveals that Kylo Ren was Han’s and Leia’s son. Snoke’s talking about it with Kylo Ren does not have the same effect of Han revealing that Kylo Ren is his son. 3) The thing that bugged me the most was Maz Kanata, I hated the CGI character. This film had so many actual effects that seeing her as a CGI character, that was not done well in the first place, was somewhat jarring. I did not see the point in making that character like that in this film. They could have either made her into an alien with makeup or created a puppet. That would have gone better with the overall aspect of this movie.

Beyond those, really minor points, I thought it was fantastic. I loved that it was a homage to A New Hope. This was a movie that was made by someone that truly was a fan of the original trilogy and understood why those were great. I loved Kylo Ren and how he is trying to be like grandpa, but is afraid he cannot. I loved Finn and Poe Dameron’s dynamic, I loved Finn and Rey’s dynamic, and I cannot wait to see all three of them with Chewbacca in the next two movies gallivanting through space.

I loved the actual affects in this movie. I loved that it was people in costumes, makeup, and puppets for the most part. My wife and I were joking about just how much CGI would have been used at the beginning of this movie in the junkyard scene if Lucas had made this movie.

I would rank this as my third favorite Star Wars movie.

My one hope is that since Rey was such a good fighter with a stick, I hope she uses a destroy lightsaber in the future.

itsdemtitans wrote:I ended up just walking in to the next showing of In the Heart of the Sea the same day, and loved it. So it wasn't a complete waste of $15.

Saw it last week and I have to say I enjoyed it. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but Force Awakens was actually a pleasant surprise. The characters, plot (as much as it borrowed from New Hope), the CGI, the lack of Jar-Jar Binks and everything else made it a nice sit through.

The only thing that annoyed me a bit is that the light saber fights were... well I know people who do boffering that would have taken Kylo Rens head off in about 10 seconds, force user or not. Also, how many non lethal wounds can people do in a light saber fight? That blade is known to melt durasteel with ease after all.

Visaki wrote:Saw it last week and I have to say I enjoyed it. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but Force Awakens was actually a pleasant surprise. The characters, plot (as much as it borrowed from New Hope), the CGI, the lack of Jar-Jar Binks and everything else made it a nice sit through.

The only thing that annoyed me a bit is that the light saber fights were... well I know people who do boffering that would have taken Kylo Rens head off in about 10 seconds, force user or not. Also, how many non lethal wounds can people do in a light saber fight? That blade is known to melt durasteel with ease after all.

Well they have to make a trilogy out of it

Mind you that didn't stop Lucas from killing the only potentially interesting antagonist off in Episode 1

Kylo Ren had just been shot by Chewie's bowcaster. It seems to me that they went out of their way to emphasize the effect of that weapon to make it clear that Kylo Ren was probably pretty seriously injured. Plus I expect there was still some emotional turmoil going on. Plus, I suspect it is part of a longer term set-up for him to beat everybody in the next film after he "completes his training".

Not that I've been thinking too much about this movie, or anything.

"Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest" -- Albert Szent-Gyrgyi

Kylo Ren had just been shot by Chewie's bowcaster. It seems to me that they went out of their way to emphasize the effect of that weapon to make it clear that Kylo Ren was probably pretty seriously injured. Plus I expect there was still some emotional turmoil going on. Plus, I suspect it is part of a longer term set-up for him to beat everybody in the next film after he "completes his training".

I understand that, they did emphasize that Kylo Ren was hurt in that scene. However, this was the second time Finn ever used the lightsaber, and the first time was pathetic and what one expects. Finn is trained to use a blaster. I think that scene would have been better if Finn still had his blaster and it was basically him just running, hiding, and firing on Kylo Ren, with Kylo Ren blocking the beams with his lightsaber and the force (like he did in the opening). I do understand that Kylo Ren was hurt, but he was able to stand and still willed his lightsaber. Kylo Ren’s injury makes sense when he fought Rey and how she was able to stand against him with already established fighting skills and the force awakening in her.

I don't get how they could have under estimated the popularity of the main character in a Star Wars movie. Unless they are operating on the dual faulty notions that Star Wars is for boys and boys don't want to play with toy girls. It's either that or no one knew she was a main character, but that doesn't excuse excluding her from the monopoly set, from the trailer you could tell her character was important if not the lead role.

It's great to see a progressive Star Wars movie, especially after the racist characters like Watto and Jar Jar from the prequels. It's sad that the merchandising appears to be lagging behind...